By Emily Murphy | Pagosa Peak Open School
After a year of contemplation, surveying and grant application work around the Pagosa Peak Open School (PPOS) outdoor spaces, PPOS parents have received a $25,000 grant from the Colorado Health Foundation to fund planning for the “Playground for the People.”
Once plans are complete, the playground planning team can submit them for a second and final round that would fund the building of the playground in 2023.
During the design and planning process, the team is looking for input from students, families and Pagosa Springs community members. The community is invited to the Playground for the People Planning Party at 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 15 in the cafeteria at PPOS, 3133 Cornerstone Drive, to collaborate and share ideas.
The team will also be meeting with PPOS students this month to collect their thoughts around the ideal outdoor space.
Students are excited to potentially have things like swings and a bouldering wall.
The space will be designed to serve not only PPOS students, but also the entire Pagosa community after school hours. With limited uptown playground spaces available to the public, the planning team is hoping to create a fun, outdoor space for Pagosa families.
“We are working together to build an award-winning playground that will bring joy for generations,” PPOS Playground Planning Team member Cady Allione said.
The school has just undergone a $1.5 million building renovation, and the staff is excited to now look toward renovating the exterior spaces on the property.
“Our students and community deserve a beautiful and fun place to play,” PPOS Director Angela Reali-Crossland said. “We are fortunate to have dedicated parents working toward this goal.”
